riddler

I believe these are the Thunderbirds - air force demo team. They fly F-16s and those are their colors. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I don't wear my hair like this to be invisible, ya know. "Live like a rock star" - Holly Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I hate when I jump with a student with 15 jumps and they track better than I do. Anyone want to practice tracking with me? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Didn't waste time fucking with it. Good job. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Along these lines, and old story that circulates around the communications industry. I don't know if it's true or not, but it could happen. An elderly lady calls the phone company and complains that most of the time when people call her, the phone doesn't ring, but the few times it works, it is preceded by her dog barking. Naturally, the phone company is intrigued by the psychic dog and sends a repairman out to find out what's what. The repairmen spends a little time at the residence and finds that: The lady has tied her dog to the phone grounding pole with a metal collar and metal chain. When the phone rings, a mid-range voltage is sent through the wires (and through the dog) on every ring. After a few rings (i.e. shocks), the dog gets agitated, begins to bark and urinate, which completes the circuit to ground and lets the phone ring. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

At WFFC, I had one interesting landing that is worthy of a remark. When I went to flare, I found one hand did not want to come all the way down. It turned out that the slider drawstring had managed to work it's way into my toggle so that I could not pull more than half-way down with one toggle. Times like these, I remember skr's words about keeping "wings level". I compromised by pulling both toggles only half-way and sliding in for a fast landing at half brakes, but keeping my wings level with the ground to maintain lift. I did a controllability check, including a full flare, after opening and stowing my slider, so I can conclude that the drawstring worked itself into my toggle at a later point in flight. The type of slider I have has two drawstrings, and they are both quite long when the slider is collapsed. Normally, when I get down, they are wrapped up with each other and I have to spend some time unwrapping them, but this time, one string managed to get in between the toggle and my hand. I should also note that I have soft links and I do pull the slider behind my head after collapsing it. I also always wear gloves, so it's possible one of the string got in between my hand and the toggle without me feeling it. Finally, I talked about this with Mustard, shortly after it happened, and she said it's happened to her as well. Anyone else have this happen, or have advice?

Didn't know it was your b-day on the 5th, Wingy - hope it was a good one. For me, this weekend only (not including Rantoul), 5:5:0 Including a few spectacular crashes as I remembered (the hard way) that landing at one mile above sea level is a tad faster than landing at the freefall convention. Did a tracking dive just to prove to everyone how much I suck at tracking. Did a coach jump with a guy that I think will be a good skydiver. Had a nice chat with skr about swooping, and he gave me a few things to think about. Overall, a pleasant weekend

You can call your local phone company and request a tour of one of the local switching stations. I did a few tours when working for U S WEST (now QWest). You can see how this works. Phone lines are powered by an array of large batteries that work even when local power is off. Of course, you need a conventional phone to make sure you can still talk - they wireless type usually use electricity to transmit to the handset, although some use rechargeable batteries as well. Personally, I keep a small wired telephone in the closet in case of power outage - those cell towers don't work either. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Together my butt - you and Petur(?) were together and your friend came in and I was off in my own little piece of sky somewhere about 50 feet above you and on your left. Seriously, the exit didn't go off as good as I hoped, and when I saw you directly underneath me, I opted to slide off on my back to get clear. Of course, that little 'spinning' problem I had didn't help me get down to you any faster Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I don't think the soccer field was that far away. Oops, did I say soccer field? I didn't really land in the soccer field - it was just a big grassy area with some lines painted on it and some goal looking thingys. Fortunately, skybytch was there to keep me company until we got a ride back. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Judging from all the used condoms on the ground when we were policing the area Sunday, I'd say there was plenty of lovin' going on on the ground as well. Specifically, right outside my tent. Let's all pick up after ourselves next year, shall we? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

So who is the youngest to jump solo? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Happy B-Day Duece - hope to see ya at the Holiday boogie! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What about shifting around the inevitable boner stuck the wrong way in your jeans? Ahh, to be 17 again ... Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Gather 'round the campfire little dz.com chillun, and let Uncle Riddler tell you a story about the way it was in Rantoul, Illinois, way back in aught-three. There was some jumping to be had for sure. I did my 200th skydive there, surrounded by friends and instructors alike. I bruised my tailbone on one hard landing, making me miss a day, but toughed out some hard openings on my sore ass and jumped the remaining 5 days. I did my first demo ever to open the freefall convention, followed by three more over the next two weeks, accompanied by the largest flag flown by a skydiver anywhere in the world. I hung upside down from a biplane and sat through 3,000 feet of clou - errr, haze. But all of that is moot when talking to other skydivers. Others have better stories, cleaner video, and more kick-ass skydives than I ever had or ever will. The really cool shit was happening on the ground. Dz.com did represent. SkymonkeyONE and LouDiamond were there showing others how to fly like a bird, rather than drop like a rock - if these two were any cooler, they wouldn't need a plane to get to altitude. Vallerina is so drop-dead gorgeous that by all rights, I should be dead from meeting her. RevJim was there sporting a nice pink highlight and I even got to jump with him on a demo. I never thought I would ever be fortunate enough to see any part of Jasmine naked, but after witnessing the wet t-shirt contest, I realize that there is a God, and he does in fact love me. But my secret dz.com crush will always be for B^2, and although I didn't get to jump with her, the fantasy of doing so keeps me motivated to live. Many, many of my weekend buddies were there at Kamp Colorado. And of course, the big chief himself was there and a kind and benevolent leader he is. The liquor flowed even more than the rains from the heavens that put a damper on much of our fun. I apologize for any and all of the things I said and did whilst in a state of non-sobriety, alcohol induced or otherwise. I spent many mornings at the Internet Cafe earning jump money to little or no avail. "Working vacation" my butt, I couldn't even remember what day it was. But that didn't stop me from getting the second largest contract of my life. Ironically, the biggest contract was won on a conference call from home while having naked intercourse with another dz.commer, but that is a story for another time. I'm a freeflyer, through and through. But I have this to say about RW - when it's good, it's really good. Of course, doing a 4-way with flyangel2, BillVon and Amy drastically improves your chances of turning a lot of points in 60 seconds and Amy was draggin' my butt around like a dance teacher trying to waltz with a drunken, one-legged baboon. But we got a fair number of points out of it, enough for me to rationalize buying a $300 pit suit from Tony. Overall, I would say that WFFC '03 was a raging success, as measured by the happiness of one mere skydiver. But like all other skydivers, I have to admit, it's all about me. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Ya know, if she wants them posted, where's the debate? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Put your rig on, stand in front of a mirror and bend side-to-side at the waist. Watch your chest strap. For me, there is a difference between my two rigs - one has chest rings, and the other does not. It's not a huge difference. Hip rings add much more flexibility. Chest rings (IMO) add a little more flexibility. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Did anyone have their reserve pin tested when they checked in at Rantoul and had it bend or break? If so, what did you do? When I checked in they requested my packing cards on both rigs to make sure the pins had been tested. I had both tested prior to the WFFC and one pin did bend. Fortunately, my rigger had another ripcord to lend me. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

If my rigger had such an ego problem that he/she would get upset about it, I would get another rigger. That same ego might carry over to bad workmanship in the sense that he/she probably never thinks he/she is wrong. Personally, I trust my rigger with my life. But I've seen him work and I think he has a good attention to detail and cares about his job. Plus I've watched him pack my reserve and he's watched me pack mine too. When I see someone work, I get an idea of how good they are. Why not ask to watch your rigger pack your reserve sometime? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

If you've got a camera step and an outside bar, it's not hard. Just make sure to let the pilot know, 'cause it sucks when they think you're gone already and proceed to dive the plane. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Soccer field? I never landed in a soccer field, despite what my logbook says I heard those Rantoulians don't like it when we land in the soccer fields. Something about paying a lot of money for them, yadi, yada. But, gosh they look so tempting on a long spot and I've heard that you get some nice skids on them - like about 30 feet on a Lotus 150 Seriously, nice to meet with ya. Come hang with us at Kamp Colorado. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Here's 'nother good Billvon story. Rantoul, Monday, 4-way with me and two other jumpers - one jumper had about 90 jumps. I was sitting next to him and Bill was across from him on the Eloy Otter. I was going over the skydive in my head at about 3,000 feet when I heard Bill point at his chest strap and says "why don't you fix your cheststrap now. Just in case". We all looked down and saw his chest strap routed around the hardware without going back through. Now it *might* have been OK, seeing as how he had the other end going through the retainer strap, I would give him a 50/50 chance of staying in the harness on open. Sometimes it's those little things that save lives. You rawk Bill. Edited to add - all that and he didn't even get mad at me for blowing the third point of our 4-way

Weekend? Hell, I've been jumping the last three days, and I will be for the next seven days. WFFC, all. Wish you were here! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Probably a good idea, but I have step in pedals, and I would hate to have to put on my bike shoes every time I wanted to hop on it. I think I'll leave my bike home. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

As far as I know, it's closed for the summer at least, and maybe longer. I only know this because my DZ rents one of their King Airs. A message from our DZ: Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD